


Bag of Bolts

by elistaire



Category: Forever Knight, Highlander: The Series
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Gen, hlhshortcuts2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2016-11-26
Packaged: 2018-09-01 15:03:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8628907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elistaire/pseuds/elistaire
Summary: Natalie goes to a Medical Examiner's Conference.  Tessa is trying to get a sculpture installed. Somewhere in the middle, there's danger, the beginnings of friendship, and pie.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Amy R (Brightknightie)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brightknightie/gifts).



> Many thanks to my betas: Pat_T and Raine Wynd, for helping me make everything better.

Natalie Lambert signed in at the front desk of the Seacouver Hotel where the Medical Examiner's Conference was being held, and hurried up to her room. She'd been traveling all that morning and wanted to change out of her travel clothes before heading to the conference area. 

She debated on taking a quick shower and decided against it. She wouldn't wet down her hair, but the heat and humidity would have made the curl in it spring into action. She wanted a more subdued look at the conference, not the overly-busy and frazzled air she'd projected last year. 

She yawned, tired from the change of schedule and from working too many hours. She stayed up all through the night shift. Conference schedules usually ran from eight until five. It was a complete reversal of her day. 

Natalie pulled on a matching gray skirt and jacket, with a navy blouse beneath, professional heels, and headed down to the conference area. Dressing for a conference wasn't that much different from dressing for work when she might be seen by the public, or for dressing for court appearances. She had a lot of matching skirts and jackets. 

Two people waited at a table just in front of the conference area, boxes on the floor by their feet, and signs indicating this was the sign-in location. 

"Hello," Natalie said, recognizing one of the women at the table. "Mary, it's good to see you."

"Hi there, Nat. Finally escaped the morgue to get out?" Mary Norris worked at the Los Angeles Coroner's Office now, but she and Natalie had once worked together years ago when they'd interned together. 

Natalie laughed. "You know nobody ever really escapes the morgue," she said, giving back the line to the ages-old medical examiner joke. In the end, nobody did escape. Except, now she knew, a few people with special circumstances did, at least for a time. Even the long lives of vampires didn't always last forever.

Mary handed over a nametag, a binder, and a bag of conference swag. "Schedule's inside." She tapped the binder. "And I see you signed up for the dinner cruise. Excellent. Sit near me and we can catch up."

"I'd love to," Natalie said. She flipped open the binder and scanned the schedule, which ran for three days. Do you know if Dr. Kayne has arrived yet?"

Mary pulled up the clipboard with attendee names and perused it. "He's signed off, so he's arrived. Still here is another matter." She grinned. "You know how people sometimes take off a session or two and go see the sights." 

"Let me know if you see him," Natalie said. "I've got a case I want to talk to him about."

Mary nodded. "Will do." She looked past Nat's shoulder to other arriving guests. "Definitely sit with me on the cruise," she repeated. "I'd love to hear what's new." She smiled at the newcomers and Natalie moved on. 

She slipped the binder into the bag, after looking in at the items, which were mostly glossy sheets of advertisements for gear and equipment. She'd look it over later and decide if she wanted to upgrade anything. 

Natalie slid into the back of the closest on-going session and tried to figure out what the presentation was about. Something to do with a new product for stabilizing degraded blood samples. She checked over the schedule again. There was a three-part talk on mass disaster recovery later. She had been part of D-MORT when she'd been in the States, but wasn't anymore. She'd probably missed a lot of changes. Her current duties kept her very busy, especially since she wasn't just performing autopsies, but managing the staff. She had reduced her outside responsibilities to keep up with the demands of the job. Sometimes it felt very insular, but mostly she tried to get through things day to day. 

She didn't love all the extra work, but she wasn't sure what other options she had. She liked her work and didn't really want to go elsewhere. Being a Medical Examiner anywhere else would have just as many hours and responsibilities. She didn't want a career change. If she were honest with herself, she liked seeing Nick as much as she did. 

She slid her finger down the page. There. Dr. Kayne was giving a talk on his research in half an hour. She stood up and eased out of the room. She wanted to plant herself up front for his talk and that meant changing lecture rooms. 

Dr. Frederick Kayne's research revolved around perpetual homeostasis and regenerative properties of the body. In essence, why did a body age and die? And how could those detrimental processes be overcome?

She wasn't sure yet how she'd even broach the subject, but Natalie wanted to talk to the man. He might be able to help her understand where to go next with Nick's treatments. 

Help him to become human again. 

Natalie couldn't tell Dr. Kayne about vampires. She had no intention of doing that at all. Or even mentioning Nick. She knew how curious people could be, so she would need to carefully not mention what she was truly after. 

Right now, she was figuring out what Nick meant to her. They were friends, of course, and she enjoyed his company. Sometimes she felt the flicker of attraction. Wanting more than friendship could get dicey very fast. Most of the time, they kept to co-worker banter and she steamrolled ahead on her efforts to help him find a cure. Sometimes he even tried taking her advice. She wanted more for Nick, though. She wanted to move past herbal tea, five minutes in a tanning bed, or reducing the amount of cow blood he consumed. She wanted to find substantial scientific information that would help Nick with his condition. 

She could give Dr. Kayne the third degree about his research. Get copies of his papers. Find out everything he was doing. Perhaps bring that information back to help Nick. 

She knew he appreciated the effort, even if sometimes he worried she stayed too focused on it. He knew she spent a lot of time researching and thinking about his situation. She didn't mind. He was a friend, and maybe, someday, something more. That something more would never happen, though, if Nick stayed a vampire. So Natalie kept looking.

The previous talk ended and the next one was beginning, so people transitioned in and out of the room. Natalie found a seat in the front row and made herself comfortable. An interesting talk on cadaver dogs was about to begin, and then Dr. Kayne's presentation. She was ready. 

~~~ 

Tessa Noel considered the installation of her artwork. "These are not the bolts that should be used," she said. The bolts in her hand were too small and too short to provide adequate support to the weight of the metal that would stretch into the sky. 

"That's what they gave us," said one of the workmen. "I can't control it when they give me the wrong specs." He'd already spent an hour drilling the improper holes. 

He seemed much less frustrated than Tessa felt. 

"They who?" asked Tessa, trying to not glare the man down into a tiny piece of rubble on the earth. This was not the first problem with installation, and she was slowly losing her temper. 

"Management," said the guy. He shrugged, very sympathetic. "They're always trying to cut corners. Even to buying fifty-cent bolts instead of the two-dollar bolts."

"I know!" Tessa shook her head. "We need the correct bolts. Can you get them? Or must I go out to buy them myself?"

Tessa regretted accepting this commission. It had seemed so perfect in the beginning. The beautiful, elegant, luxurious Seacouver Hotel planned to upgrade their outdoor patio and garden into a poet and artist's garden. Several artists, including Tessa, had been contacted to submit artwork for display. Her design had been accepted, and because it would be so prominent, and such a good advertisement for her work, Tessa had agreed to take a smaller fee than usual. Artists were always fighting and scrambling to earn the appropriate amount for their efforts. Did people honestly think art came out of the ether, with no work, no sweat, no cost for materials? 

This was an old anger. It lingered forever, of course. Tessa was lucky. She had Duncan to help her when times had been lean, and she had Duncan to bolster her when companies were cruel. Duncan MacLeod. His name conjured up an image of him. Long brown hair, soulful brown eyes, strong body, passionate, and intelligent. He was everything she'd ever wanted in a partner. Of course, he'd had four hundred years to learn how to be so wonderful, and it was Tessa's luck that she'd found him when he was at the peak of perfection. 

Tessa took a few deep breaths and relaxed. She didn't quite make a luxurious living from her art yet, but it was enough. In the meantime, her hard work at the antique shop gave sustenance for her life and for her dreams. 

The installer shrugged. "Probably you'll have to buy them," he said. "I can try and ask. They'll get into a flap. They think the plans they have make sense." 

"Go and ask anyway," Tessa said. "I will stay here and work while you inquire." She tapped her foot until the man looked uncomfortable and scurried away to see about the bolts. Installers. She was sure the hotel paid a lot of money to hire him as a consultant. Like a lot of contractors, he stopped short of telling the people paying him that they were making errors left and right. 

Tessa turned back to her art. This installation would take hours. She probably wouldn't be home for dinner. She'd have to warn Duncan not to worry if she was late. 

~~~ 

 

Dr. Kayne's presentation thrilled Natalie. It touched upon so many of the things she'd already been considering for Nick, and many others that she hadn't even thought about. Low grade, recurrent, consistent infection. Blood transfusions from someone already cured — or who had fought off infection — could bolster immune response in an individual. Perhaps that would work. Hadn't Nick mentioned that sometimes people who were bitten didn't actually turn? Did that mean they were resistant? Could their blood be given to someone with the disease, and help them fight off the infection? And Dr. Kayne's research into nutrition at the cellular level was eye-opening. Diet did play an important part in protein synthesis. And the whole idea of epigenetics was entirely new and bewildering, if perhaps even outrageous. 

Natalie desperately wanted to talk to the man. 

She approached him after a few others had their questions answered, so she would be the last to speak with him. "Dr. Kayne," she said. 

"Frederick, please," he said. He had the slightest trace of an accent, and she'd tried to place it all throughout his talk, but hadn't been able to. Even now, it stumped her. 

"I wanted to talk to you about your research. Do you think —theoretically —that it would be possible to —" Natalie paused, hoping she didn’t sound as nervous as she felt. She'd rehearsed her question, always trying to figure out the best way to ask it without being too revealing. "Do you think that if you had a state of permanent homeostasis, perfect homeostasis, as you called it in your lecture, that you could break the pattern? Return the subject to a normal state? Without disrupting the entire organism, I mean?"

Something flashed in the man's eyes, but was gone before Natalie could understand it. 

He was quiet for a long moment, then put his hand on her arm. He nodded to the speaker about to start the next lecture. "Let us talk in the hall." 

She walked with him out to the hallway. It was nice that she'd caught his attention last so that she could speak with him without pressure of others wanting to ask questions as well. She'd practiced this approach quite often during conferences when she wanted more in depth information from speakers. A few people milled about. Some hotel workers were setting up a refreshment station. There would be coffee and desserts available for the lecture break in a short while. 

Dr. Kayne fixed his intense, dark eyes on Natalie. "Your question is intriguing," he said. "Everyone wants to know how to achieve perfect homeostasis. Live forever." He chuckled. "I cannot recall ever being asked how to undo it before." He raised an eyebrow. 

Natalie shrugged. "It's just that the equation should be able to go both ways." She felt jittery. She'd thought she'd been oblique enough. Had she said too much? "It's theoretical. I'm only curious."

"Perhaps." Dr. Kayne rubbed his chin. He eyed the people all around them. "Or perhaps there is more. I have heard a rumor of certain individuals who have attempted to reach this state. Done experiments on themselves?"

Natalie felt a thread of relief. His guess was off base enough to make her think he did not know what she was talking about. 

"Who have had, perhaps, too much success?" Dr. Kayne sounded now like he was just musing on the topic. "It would be terrible, would it not," he said, fixing his attention entirely on her again, "if people could not grow old together, have children together?"

"I suppose," Natalie said, feeling unsure how to respond. Sometimes she felt that way. About Nick. About the possibilities that were denied to him...to her, unless she found a way to help him. They were daydream flights of fancy, because of course, it would be utterly foolish to really fall in love with him. They were good friends and good colleagues, and that's all that mattered. 

Dr. Kayne moved a step closer and spoke in a whisper meant only for her. "For some people, immortality is the problem, isn't it?" he said. 

Natalie swallowed, but didn't know how to respond. Dr. Kayne knew. She was sure of it.

Her non-answer seemed to also make him sure and bold. "We cannot talk about this here. Meet me in the hotel garden tonight at eleven. We can speak of such things then." He gave her a nod and turned on his heel and walked off. 

Natalie stood amidst the hustle of the other convention goers and watched him leave. She wasn't sure if she felt apprehension or excitement. 

~~~ 

Tessa stopped for dinner at home, but Duncan wasn't there. He'd left a scrawled note that he would be back later, but no other information. She wondered if she should worry. His Immortal business always got worse before it got better. She remembered the days before the wretched Immortal Slan came to pull the wool away from her eyes. Things had been quieter in those days, but although she'd felt safer, it had been a false sense of security. 

She sighed. It did no good to worry until she knew what was going on. Tessa tapped her finger against her chin and decided that if Duncan could be running about doing whatever he pleased, then she could do the same. 

She ate a hurried dinner of reheated soup, fresh bread, and grapes while she jotted down a list. She would need to purchase bolts, of course, but also a few other things to fix the problems of the hotel garden installation. Some sort of sticky material had appeared on the informational plaque that would accompany the sculpture. She'd need to bring some sort of solvent to clean it off, and some rags. She used a ridiculous number of rags in her workshop, to the point where she couldn't keep up with supplying them through ripping up old clothes. Not even with Duncan's propensity for going through clothing so quickly. She would have to stop at a few stores.

Tessa cleaned her bowl and spoon, and then wiped up the table after her. She grabbed her purse and tucked the list into it. She had a very busy evening ahead of her. 

~~~ 

Natalie entered the garden cautiously. It was darker than she'd expected. The hotel had very few lights illuminating the garden pathway, and a good portion of it was roped off for some sort of artwork being put in. Dr. Kayne wasn't there yet, so she wandered around a little. The garden was pretty and she liked the outlay of it. A few nooks held chairs and small tables for privacy. 

She returned to the front area where the artwork lay in bits and pieces all over the place. It looked like quite a mess. 

"Ah, Doctor, good evening."

Natalie turned to face Dr. Kayne. "Hello."

"Are you prepared to continue our conversation from earlier?" he asked. 

He walked toward her and Natalie felt pinned in. She could scramble over the garden wall to get away, but the way he'd approached her, she had no way to dash along the path. 

"You were going to tell me more about your research," Natalie said, bringing up the topic immediately. If she could get him talking, perhaps it would make her less uneasy. For the moment, she stood her ground and kept her posture straight. 

She'd reviewed the conversation in her head dozens of times. He hadn't explicitly said anything about vampires. He could be making guesses. Or playing some kind of game. She wanted to know about his research, and after that, she was out of there.

Dr. Kayne came very close, peering at her. "The immortality you wish to eradicate cannot be destroyed," he said. "Your Immortal can die, but he can never be mortal again."

"What?" Natalie said. "How do —" Then, as the horribleness of his words sunk into her, she shook her head. "No. I don't believe you. I'm leaving now." She tried to move past him, but he grabbed her arm. 

"And he will come to retrieve you like the good lover he is." Dr. Kayne wrapped another arm around her and even though Natalie kicked at him, she barely brushed his shin. 

"Shh," he said. "You're going to come with me quietly."

One of his hands came down across her throat and Natalie tried to thrash her way out, but he had her tightly. And, of course, he knew not to crush to her windpipe, but to put pressure on the sides of her neck, cutting off blood from her brain. She'd drop in a matter of moments, but he was too strong for her to fight against. She'd taken self defense classes. She had to do something with her elbows, didn't she? Drop her chin and shrug down, and kick him in the nether regions —

There was a thump and Dr. Kayne released her and slumped to the ground in a heap. 

~~~ 

Tessa scowled at the low lighting. She would need to speak to the hotel about putting in more lights to highlight the artwork. It was far too dark in the garden. 

She gripped her bag of bolts and her bag of rags and kept moving forward. She'd drop the supplies off, for the workers to have early in the morning so they could perform a proper installation, and then go home. She hoped Duncan would be in. She checked her watch. Ten minutes after eleven. She had been running around all evening and she was ready to go home and get some sleep. 

The murmur of voices came out of the garden and Tessa frowned. The area was supposed to be off-limits during installation. Were they errant hotel guests rambling where they'd been instructed not to go, or were they vandals? Tessa scowled again. She detested vandals. They came in the dark and sprayed graffiti all over perfectly beautiful artwork. The bastards! She would catch them at it!

Tessa walked quietly, no small feat given she still wore her heels from earlier in the day, and had not changed out of her more formal attire. She'd started the day with a meeting of hotel management concerning her work and had become slowly embroiled in the messier aspects. She should have changed into jeans, sneakers, and a work shirt. 

She peered around the edge of the greenery, past the wall, and became quite concerned. A man was menacing a woman. He crowded close to her, glaring down at her, his hands flexing at his sides into fists. He hadn't attacked her yet, but Tessa felt it would only be a matter of moments. 

Tessa glanced to the entrance to the hotel. At this time of night, it would be locked and there would no entry without a key card, which she did not have. That meant she would need to run around to the front to enter the hotel and retrieve help. It would take precious minutes. She would have no idea what had taken place while she scurried for assistance. 

She could call out — start screaming for help, but the area was deserted. She doubted anyone would be close enough to come. 

Perhaps just emerging from the side area, making her presence known, and being obtuse about seeing anything, might be enough to break off the interaction and send the man scuttling away. It would put Tessa into danger, but she hefted the bag in her hand. Full of bolts, it was satisfactorily heavy. She cinched the bag tight in her hand. She could wallop the man.

Then, the decision was taken from her. The man advanced on the woman and the woman tried to escape. He grabbed her, she struggled, and he began choking her. 

Tessa didn't even think about her response. She stepped forward, not speaking so that he would not be forewarned, and bashed the man on the head with her bag of bolts. She hadn't thought the strike would incapacitate him — the bag was heavy, to be sure, but he was tall and strong — but she must have hit him perfectly. He went down hard. 

The woman gasped in air and put her own hands around her throat. She looked mutely at Tessa in shock, surprise, and relief. 

"Thank you," she managed to say. 

"We need to get out of here, and call the po —," Tessa's words died in her mouth. The man's short hair had allowed her to see the shallow scalp wound the bag of bolts had inflicted. Now, she also saw the flicker of white-blue electricity as the wound healed itself. Urgency began to pound in Tessa's veins. She held out her hand for the woman. "Come, quickly."

The woman glanced uneasily at the man. "What about —"

"Leave him," Tessa said. "He's about to revive himself." Tessa clutched the woman's hand and pulled her forward. She hurried them out of the garden and to the parking lot. "My car is over there. We need to get out of here before he sees us." Tessa wasted no time unlocking her car and starting the engine. 

The woman next to her gasped. 

Tessa looked up. The Immortal man was up and staggering around the edge of the parking lot. 

"Duck down so he doesn't see you," Tessa ordered. 

The woman did so, and Tessa pulled out of the lot as calmly and slowly as she dared. She did not want to draw attention to them. Another vehicle pulled into the lot as she exited, and she prayed it was enough to make their escape look like an ordinary hotel guest driving off. 

Tessa studied her unexpected guest. She looked professional, young but not youthful, and absolutely in shock. 

"I am Tessa Noel," Tessa said. 

"Natalie Lambert," came the reply. "How did you know I was in danger?"

"I didn't. I came to drop off some supplies for my artwork. The sculpture in the garden is mine. That's why I had such a heavy bag of —" Tessa broke off. She had dropped the bolts. And the rags. She frowned, trying to remember if her receipt was still in one of the bags, a receipt with her name on it. She wasn't sure. It might be enough, though, for the Immortal to guess who Natalie's unexpected rescuer was, and come looking for both Tessa and Natalie. "Bolts," Tessa said. "Which I left there, with my name in it, I think." She exchanged a glance with Natalie. 

"What now?" Natalie asked. She looked frightened, but also recovering, and sturdy.

Tessa thought about that. She needed Duncan for this type of situation. Was going home the safest course? Should she and Natalie find somewhere else to wait? Tessa considered her options. "He won't be able to track down my address for at least an hour. Let's go to my home so I can grab some other clothes and some cash. Perhaps my partner, Duncan, will be there, and he will help us. If not, we will find a diner and a hotel for the evening." Tessa looked at Natalie again. "We have some talking to do." 

~~~ 

Natalie couldn't warm her hands. She clutched at the coffee mug, filled to the brim with steaming hot black coffee, and the heat penetrated a few layers of her skin, but did nothing to actually warm her hands all the way through. 

"Are you sure I can't order you something to eat?" asked Tessa. 

She had a smooth, arcing accent to her words, and Natalie felt reasonably sure she could guess that Tessa's first language was French. To go along with her gorgeous accent, Tessa was tall like a model, and had blonde hair and sincere blue eyes. Tessa was beautiful and exceptionally kind, and had saved Natalie's life from a maniac. Natalie was pretty sure Tessa had to be part guardian angel. 

Tessa had brought Natalie to her home, a strange sort of place that looked like a warehouse converted into an antique shop, but they'd only stayed about ten minutes. Tessa had thrown clothes into a satchel, some of them possibly for Natalie's use, and left a note for her boyfriend. They'd scooted out of there and to a diner clear on the other side of town. Even though the hour was late, the diner was moderately busy. It had to be near some sort of theater, because well dressed people came in shortly after one o'clock in the morning and ordered snacks and desserts.

Natalie shook her head. "Eating is a bit out of my league for the moment." 

Tessa checked her watch again. "I wish Duncan would get here." There was a little worry line that appeared between her eyebrows when she mentioned her boyfriend. She looked hesitantly at Natalie for a moment, her mouth open, and then she closed it again. She obviously wanted to broach some topic — very probably having to do with Dr. Kayne — but Natalie wasn't sure how she would answer. 

Dr. Kayne obviously knew about vampires. Acknowledging that little fact put a whole new spin on his research, and why he must have chosen his focus, his experiments. Also why he planned the attack on Natalie once he'd realized she had a link to a vampire. Although how he'd known about Nick, she wasn't sure. Dr. Kayne could have been blindly guessing, based on the fact that she was asking loaded questions and wasn't a vampire herself. He'd called Nick her lover, which wasn't true, although she spent enough time with him that an outsider might have gotten a mistaken impression. Dr. Kayne was right about the rescue, though. Nick would have tried to come to her aid.

"Just say what you need to say," Natalie said. "If you say it first...." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'm pretty sure we are both dancing around a big secret. No one wants to say it first, right?"

Tessa smiled. "Right."

Natalie was mostly sure Tessa had heard enough and seen enough to pick up on the connection to the topic of vampires. She'd been initially very intent on calling the police, but she'd seen something to make her change her mind. And then, they'd cruised out of the parking lot with Dr. Kayne hot on their heels. That wasn't exactly normal. Natalie wondered what sort of things Dr. Kayne had been discovering with his experiments, and what he'd possibly done to himself. Vampire blood was sought after for its unusual properties. People staying young past their time. Enhanced strength and speed. 

It gave a reason to why Dr. Kayne wanted to lure Nick in with Natalie as bait. 

Tessa played her long fingers over the handle of the cup that held her tea, which was growing cold. "I think you and I are very similar, Natalie," she said. "We're both very human. Very mortal, yes?"

Natalie nodded, a lump forming in her throat. 

Tessa tilted her head and fixed her gaze on Natalie. "The ones we love the most, the ones closest to us —" She shrugged with one shoulder. "They're quite a bit better at staying young, yes? A most robust immune system. Excellent at healing. Not catching colds or diseases."

Natalie added in a whisper, "And not being able to die."

Tessa stared down at her mug. "Or have children."

Natalie reached out, leaving the warmth of her coffee mug for the cool hands of Tessa, and they held hands across the table and stared at each other. "I think we understand each other perfectly," Natalie said. 

"Your young man?" Tessa asked. 

"A very long ways away," Natalie said. "He wouldn't be able to get here right away."

"When Duncan gets here, we'll see what he says," Tessa said. "Although I suspect I know what his solution to the problem will be." She didn't look happy about her knowledge.

"They always run off to fight the bad guy, don't they?" Natalie muttered. 

Tessa laughed. "Oh, Natalie. I think we do understand each other absolutely!"

Natalie found she could laugh a little bit too. "You know," she said, "we should order some food. Maybe pie or something wouldn't be too bad."

"They have very good pie here," Tessa said. 

They smiled at each other and pulled their hands apart to peruse the menu. Natalie found most of her tension dissolved. Sitting in the diner seemed much better. She was more comfortable, more relaxed. She trusted Tessa.

~~~ 

Duncan arrived at half past one, just as their lemon meringue and chocolate chess pies were delivered to their table. 

Tessa enveloped him in a hug. "Where have you been? I've been so worried!" 

The aching sliver in her heart eased. It was incredible how much she could worry about a man who might live forever. She never had to worry about the accident on the highway, oh no, she had to concentrate her anxieties on much more difficult terrain. Like the fact that others out there might come hunting for Duncan. 

"Helping Richie with a problem." Duncan beamed a smile at Tessa, apologetic, a bit haughty, self-deprecating, and self-referential all at the same time. She loved that she could read his complex expressions, but she wished he'd be a little more forthcoming with details. And write more comprehensive notes. 

"That boy gets into more scrapes. What is it this time?" Tessa wasn't mad. Richie was insufferable, but she was so very fond of him. He was just a teenager, but a street smart one, with an attitude to match. Beneath that, he was a softie. He'd witnessed the whole thing with Slan, and been brought into the fold, so to speak. His addition, although strange and unusual, felt very much like building a family to her. 

Duncan gave a quick nod to Natalie. "I'll tell you about it later. Your note's made me worried."

"We've gotten into some trouble." Tessa pulled Duncan to their table. "This is Natalie Lambert, Duncan. She's a doctor. A medical examiner."

"Hello," he said. "I'm Duncan MacLeod."

"Hi," Natalie said. They nodded at each other across the table. "Tessa told me you might have some advice about what's going on?"

Duncan raised his eyebrows. "What exactly is going on?"

Tessa glanced around the diner, but no one was close. She kept her voice low as she recounted the evening. "He's one of you," she said. "I saw him heal."

"What's his name?" Duncan asked. 

"Dr. Frederick Kayne," Natalie said. "His research is very cutting edge. Very different. I thought he'd be able to tell me something useful. How to overcome the symptoms. The condition. Once he figured out I knew...one of you...he attacked me. Wanted to use me as bait." 

Duncan exchanged a glance with Tessa. "Research? Do you mean how to make someone immortal?"

"I think that's what he wants," Natalie said. "I don't. I want to figure out how to make someone mortal again. It must be possible...."

Tessa looked sadly at Natalie. She hadn't quite realized that was exactly what Natalie was after. If anyone could understand why that sort of knowledge would be sought after, it was Tessa. She sometimes wondered about all of those "what-ifs", and then shut them away each time. She would enjoy her life with Duncan. It was a good life, however much of it they had together. She might be an artist, but she had her feet firmly planted on the ground. 

"You must care for your friend very much. To search for the answer to such a question," Tessa said, as kindly as she could. 

Natalie pursed her lips and looked down at her coffee. "I want to help him. It's what he wants."

"Then, you have been doing what you need to do," Tessa said. She felt Duncan's hand move to cover her thigh and give her a squeeze. It offered support and love, and a steadiness that Tessa drew from. She turned to Duncan. "What should we do now?"

"I think the two of you should find a nice hotel room for the night. Perhaps The Oceanview. So I can find you later."

"Duncan, what are you going to do?"

Duncan bunched his lips together, as if he didn't want to tell her the truth, but had no option. "I'm going to have a little talk with Frederick Kayne."

"Must it always come down to talks?" Tessa asked. She couldn't really see another answer, but she desperately wished to think of one. 

"Well," Duncan said, "sometimes it comes down to fisticuffs." He chuckled. "And rarely to Greco-Roman style wrestling."

Tessa laughed, in spite of the seriousness. "Be careful," she said. 

"I always am," Duncan replied. "It was nice to meet you, Miss Lambert. I hope to see you shortly."

"I suppose good luck is in order," Natalie said. She looked to Tessa. "Although my vote goes with Tessa's. Can't we just call the whole thing off?"

Duncan gave her a look. "I'll see what I can do." 

~~~ 

The knock on the door came at four in the morning. 

Neither of them were sleeping, although they hadn't been doing much talking. Natalie thought it was too stressful to engage in small talk, while waiting for someone to go out and deal with things. She wasn't sure why Tessa was so worried. As a vampire, Duncan should be capable of handling a good deal of trouble thrown his way. The problem, as she saw it, was finding a solution that didn't end up with Dr. Kayne in the morgue, and Duncan running from the law. She hoped Duncan was better at hypnotism than Nick. 

Natalie thought Duncan was very much like Nick. He had a good heart, and a good soul. Natalie preferred to believe that the vampires did retain their souls, Nick's claims to the contrary. Duncan obviously was cut from the same sort of cloth as Nick, taking the time to care what happened to others. And he was luckier than Nick. Poor Nick looked as pale as meringue. Duncan looked far more hale and hearty, and had a beautiful complexion to hide the fact that he never went out in the sun. 

Natalie wondered how Duncan and Tessa managed together. It would be terribly impolite to ask, but Natalie was curious. Nick seemed to shy away from relationships, fearing that he'd harm anyone he tried to stay with. Perhaps Duncan was older, or more strongly willed, or...perhaps he didn't abstain from human blood, and just wasn't as hungry and out of control. Natalie dragged her thoughts off the topic. 

Tessa peered through the eyehole and then opened the door. Duncan stepped in, no worse looking than he'd been earlier. 

"Duncan?" Tessa asked. 

"It's finished. Kayne's left town." He nodded to Natalie. "He shouldn't bother you any more."

"Does leaving town mean he really left town, or is that a euphemism for...." Natalie did not want to say the word dead. She dealt with dead bodies all the time and still, that loss of life made her uneasy. Putting this evening's ultimate end into a single word made it too real. She made a slicing motion across her throat with one finger instead of saying speaking about murder out loud. It was a childish, non-verbal way to ask, but it was a well understood gesture, even if it always seemed to hold a bit of piratical airs about it. 

Duncan grinned. "He's really left town. We came to an amicable agreement. He gets the hell out of town and I never hear from him again, or —" He made the same slicing motion. He glanced at Tessa, and then wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss. "Kayne was a scientist. Spent all his time in the laboratory and none of it building up his skills. He practically turned white as a sheet the moment he saw me."

"What about all this business of kidnapping and coming to rescue Natalie?" Tessa asked. "Won't he just try again? If he didn't want a fight, why use her as a lure?" Tessa raised an eyebrow. 

Duncan blew air through his lips, but eventually answered. "Okay. Perhaps we did a bit more than talk."

"Duncan!" Tessa shook her head, her eyes grown large. 

Duncan grimaced. "Kayne isn't going to fight anyone for awhile. He's one hand short. He did run away, and I suspect he isn't going to plan abductions again any time soon."

Tessa leaned against Duncan and shook her head. "You worry me so," she murmured. 

"You cut off his hand?" Natalie asked. She wondered if Dr. Kayne's research would help him heal after a severe wound like that. Considering he tried to choke her, she wasn't too upset that he'd lost his hand. One fewer hand to go around choking people with, as far she was concerned. 

Duncan nodded. "He ran off before I could talk to him more about the situation."

"Oh, understandably," Natalie said. "So, what now?"

Tessa looked to her. "We don't have to stay here for the night. Duncan and I are going home. You're welcome to come with us, or we can take you back to your hotel. Whichever you prefer."

Natalie pushed aside the drapes in front of the window. She looked into the dark, but could only see her own reflection. "We'd better hurry. The sun will be up in a few hours. Don't want to get a sunburn." She sighed. "My hotel, please. I'd like to go home. I can't imagine trying to stay for the rest of the conference. I can make my own arrangements. After tonight, I'm ready to get back to my usual routine." She turned around. "Thank you. I can't tell you how awful this whole night has been for me, and how much it means that you've helped me."

"You'll have to keep in touch," Tessa said. She gave Natalie a quick hug. "Women like us should stick together."

"I'd like that," Natalie said. She glanced at Duncan and then back to Tessa. "It's not like we can join a support group, is it?"

~~~ 

Later, in bed, Tessa finally felt her heart rate slow down. She snuggled in next to Duncan, grateful the night had not ended in sorrow and tears. She didn't like that Duncan had gone off into the night to lop off someone's hand, but she would have liked it even less if he'd been forced to kill the man. Making the man swear to leave Natalie alone was an option only the naive would believe in. No matter how cruel the world, Tessa would rather know the truth than be unaware and foolish. The more involved she became in Duncan's Immortal world, the less she liked it. All the options always seemed terrible. Getting away from that world would mean leaving Duncan, and she loved him too much. She would never leave him. 

She could feel a slight rigidity to his body. 

"What's wrong?" she asked, worried. “Is it Kayne? Do you believe he won’t come back as he promised?” 

Shaking his head, Duncan asked, "What do you think Natalie meant by her comment about a sunburn? This is Seacouver. It rains here fifty percent of the time, and it's cloudy the rest. Not a lot of sunburns, especially this time of the year."

"After all the events of tonight, that's what is bothering you?" Tessa giggled. "She's from Canada. This probably seems like a tropical paradise to her. You can ask her tomorrow. She said she'd call so we'd know she made it home safely." She stroked her fingers down his arm. "Now, close your eyes. Or if you’re going to be awake, stop thinking so loudly." She kissed the rounded part of his shoulder and dropped her head back on the pillow. He could stay up all night worrying over an errant comment; she was going to sleep. 

She had a bag of bolts to locate in the morning.


End file.
